Why I Tri

A lot of people often ask me what got me started on this path of crazy, race-obsessed exercising that I do. I usually joke around and say something like, "I dunno...why not?" or "I got bored one day." In reality, I thought I knew what got me started... I created a pre-30 bucket list, and on there was the goal to complete a triathlon. I have no clue where that goal came from, honestly. At the time, I didn't own a bike, I had never been in a pool for any reason other than cooling off while getting a tan, and I was not a runner. In fact, I claimed to hate running. I said that I'd never be a runner, but I figured that the biking and swimming would be do-able. I got started with the goal to just complete a 5k race or two... before I knew it, one year ago this week, I'd completed a few 5k races, a 10k, and two half-marathons. One year ago, I was nervous about my first triathlon, as I had discovered a recent love of running and that I was a crappy swimmer. Here I am, one year later with no end in sight. So, what happened? Why didn't I just stop with the bucket list?
There was always more to it than a pre-30 bucket list item. I used that as an excuse to push myself to do something I thought I'd never do. I've always been fairly active. I played about every sport that I could as a kid (gymnastics, dance, golf, softball, basketball, soccer, etc). I was never particularly great at any one thing, but I was fairly athletic for a scrawny kid. Beyond my school years, I had convenient access to a gym because I worked at the local YMCA off and on for 5 years. I worked out regularly, and I even got pretty into the cardio kickboxing classes (it was the only form of cardio I would do). As active as I was, I never considered myself a runner. However, in the back of my mind I always wondered... what if I could run? I wanted to want to run, but it was hard.

 

My first race was actually back in 2008... City Chase!
(I didn't run most of it, and I was sore for the next week)

As a high school soccer player, you'd think I would be a confident runner...we ran a lot. In reality, I hated the running, probably because I was a lazy teenage girl. It wasn't until my senior year that I discovered the rush of a good run. Even though I lacked the confidence or drive to get into running for the next decade, I always remembered the rush of the run. I guess I owe some props to Coach Irwin for making us run so much! It would still be over a decade before I really got bitten by the run bug.

I spent my entire 20s just getting by as a naturally healthy person. I always felt okay about myself because I was either active and felt strong, or I was lazy and thin. Either way, I figured I was naturally healthy, so it didn't matter what I did. The last time I had an active hobby that I was as obsessed with as running was when I rock climbed. I loved it. I felt strong, and all I did was climb a few times a week. I was at my strongest and in the best shape of my life. I felt great until the back pain started...and my "beer belly" kept growing, despite the fact that I didn't drink a ton and I had strong abs.

I quit climbing because the pain in my back was too bad to do anything. I started dieting because I thought I was getting a beer belly. I lost no weight, but I started looking thinner and feeling weaker...so I continued to do my 50 sit-ups per night along w/ all the crazy back stretches. It was around that time that my doctor discovered that my back pain and supposed belly were the result of a big ol' cystic tumor (to be eventually known as Leroy). I've written enough about the tumor days, so I'll leave it at that. I faced my own limitations during this time. By the time I had surgery, slicing my entire abdomen in half, the tumor was about 15 pounds. Weighing about 10 pounds less than I do today, I couldn't sit up on my own without pain for weeks. I had trouble walking or standing for long periods of time, even months later. I remember getting winded walking up the stairs at work nearly 6 months post-surgery. I had never been inactive for that long in my life. Not just inactive, I'd lost all of my muscle... all of my physical strength was gone. I'll never forget how challenging it was to walk a few steps down the hall of the hospital...it seemed impossible that I'd ever become a runner.

 

At my weakest... 

 

 and after realizing a scar is nothing but a reminder of strength.

That is why I run. I run because, for a moment, I felt what it was like to struggle in a way that some people spend their whole lives struggling. I'm blessed to have only had to experience this weakness for a short time, but even so, I keep it with me. I assumed I'd never be as strong as I was before it all, but I knew I'd get back to normal. Never would I have guessed that I'd surpass normal...surpass my pre-tumor strength...and be capable of what I've accomplished. Before my first half-marathon, I took a moment to remember my weakness only 2 years prior. This past December, almost exactly 3 years after surgery, I ran a marathon. Ironically, in a journal that I wrote while in the hospital, I made a joke about me getting in trouble for trying to move too much something like "not like I'm ever going to try to run a marathon anyway." I wrote "Leroy" on my arm during the marathon.

  

 And this is now. By no means am I great, but I'm better and stronger I've ever been before.

So...there is no short, easy answer to why I run and why I train. There's not perfectly simple reason why I plan to do a half Iron Man this fall. I simply do it because I can. You never know when life is going to put you on the sidelines. You never know what could happen tomorrow.
Why do I run? Why do I tri? Today, I do it because I can.

(...and maybe a little bit because I like collecting medals!)